Since the Los Angeles Police Department started investigating allegations by a former officer who left a trail of violence to avenge his firing, at least a half-dozen former officers have requested a reopening of their termination cases.

California is among 28 states that have laws that provide for automatic DNA collection of arrestees for the sole purpose of checking it against a national crime scene database. Is it unconstitutional to do that without a warrant?

A hot air balloon flying over Egypt's ancient city of Luxor caught fire and crashed into a sugar cane field on Tuesday, killing at least 18 foreign tourists in one of the world's deadliest ballooning accidents.

U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has announced a $15 million grant to deploy Americorps volunteers to some of the worst schools in the country. Schools have a little more than a month to apply for the volunteers—and there is a string or two attached.

Wave of immigrants released ahead of automatic spending cuts - New York Times The federal sequester spending cuts due to kick in Friday have yet to take place, but immigration officials have already been letting some immigrants held in detention centers out on supervised release as a money-saving effort.

Business Update with Mark Lacter

KPCC's business analyst Mark Lacter says sequestration wouldn't have a major impact on the Southland.Steve Julian: As we head toward Friday's deadline on federal sequestration, we get an idea of how it'll affect Southern California's economy.

AirTalk®

With the March 5 election approaching, Los Angeles business owners, public safety officers, and politicians find themselves in debate mode as the city considers a .5% sales tax increase to generate funding.

Ruthless web entrepreneurs have taken advantage of Florida law by posting publicly available mugshots online. The subjects of the photos, who may not ever have been convicted of a crime, are forced to pay hundreds of dollars to have the embarrassing snaps removed. Now, a bill was filed in Florida on February 11 that would require these websites to take down personal information of those not convicted of a crime.

Take Two®

The brown tree snake, a mildly venomous non-native serpent, is worrying wildlife officials in Guam. The snakes have devastated native animal populations on the Pacific making officials there try a novel approach: air-dropping poisoned mice. We'll speak with Daniel Vice. He's the assistant state director with the USDA Wildlife Services in Guam.

Researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno found a four-pound whopper of a goldfish, measuring in at a foot-and-a-half. And it wasn't alone, all told they found 15 other goldfish, which suggests that there are a lot more swimming around. For more we're joined by Dr. Sudeep Chandra, Associate Professor of Conservation Ecology at the University.

A civil war is brewing over gay marriage. At last count, 75 Republicans have signed on to an amicus brief supporting gay marriage. They'll submit that brief to the Supreme Court in support of the suit seeking to strike down Prop 8, California's ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage.

As communities in Fresno grapple with keeping gangs and guns off the streets, some residents in the rural, forested ranges of Northern California say guns are a means of survival. The California Report's Mina Kim has the story.

For more on the case, how it was covered by the media and what's happened in the year since, we're joined now by Eric Deggans, media critic for the Tampa Bay Times and author of the book "Race Baiter."

The song you sing before you blow out the candles and cut the cake is aptly named "Happy Birthday to You." Turns out its copyrighted, and while you won't be hauled off to court for singing it at a party, if you run a restaurant, and waiters sing it to patrons, watch out.

Off-Ramp®

'While I'm genuinely sorry to not be in the location that Ernie is most likely to be staring down at tonite, if only so I could look up and say "Hey!," I'm very pleased to be acknowledged with anything bearing his name.'